Laguna Journal News

 Rattlesnake Canyon Area Gold. Southern California.

 Michael Webster

Rattlesnake Canyon Area Gold AREAS CLASSIFIED AS MRZ-3a (p) Rattlesnake Canyon Area, MRZ-3a (p-l) Historically the length of Rattlesnake Canyon has been the locus of placer mining activity for gold and scheelite. Ttie Rattlesnake Canyon drainage transects an area underlain by exposures of the Furnace limestone in contact with intrusive granitic rocks. Developed along these intrusive/carbonate contacts have been small tungsten bearing tactites and in ~ome cases gold-bearing quartz veins associated with the contactt zone. Weathering of these deposits has resulted in the downstream movement and the re-concentration of metallic minerals. T~e Gloria-Dee and Roy Ex have been noted within the literature as having produced both gold and tungsten from placer material along the upper drainage of Rattlesnake Canyon. The U.S. BureauJof Mines panned stream sediment concentrates from throughout ~he 49 Bighorn Mountains and their study yielded only traces of gqld. The McClure-Bass, Vaughn, and Parker Group placers, located along the headwaters of Rattlesnake Canyon have a small historic. production of placer gold from gravels of the older alluviUm. Because of the relative steep gradient along the upper part of Rattlesnake Canyon, proximity to bedrock within the stream! channel, and ephemeral nature of the stream, detrital placer material is more accurately categorized as an occurrence rather than economic placer deposits. I Wayne Placer Area, MRZ-3a (p-2) This area, located about one-half mile northwest of the Big Bear Ranger Station, reportably has produced minor amounts of placer gold since about 1914. According to Gray (1960) placer gold occurs in the alluvium contained in narrow washes that transect the area and the property was mined on a small one-man operational basis since the early 1900's.